CCP has already stated that there will be no combat in stations when they presented Walking in Stations. And they have stated they would like to have it so mercs can meet up with potential clients in bars and such face to face. So all in all, no combat in stations.

That would be the problem though, on the EVE side. 'When' does the EVE player set the contract...

Preperation for battles can take anywhere from 10 minutes - 2 hours. Then there is the fact that no one 'knows' if supers will be fielded. So, a contract 'could' be made in advance. But then Dust players could be waiting for quite litteraly ages, only to be let down with not being needed. Or, it 'could' be made when a super is first sighted. Then the EVE players will have to wait for the contract to be 'filled'. Then they'll have to get in to position, then fire the weapon/shuttle. Then wait for this to reach the super.

All of this as well, while hoping that a. The super isn't primaried/destroyed before hand. B. the super doesn't jump out before hand. C. the boarding shuttle isn't destroyed mid flight (this is the only way I could think of that EVE players could counter it).

All three, which are very likely scenerios, could result in a lot of Dust mercs being dissapointed with a lot of time wasted, which could quickly result in this feature becomming unused & a waste

& then lets say that the mercs 'do' reach it, in time, with no problems. Everyone on the EVE side of things will then be sitting there waiting for the outcome.

So again, a nice idea...but I honestly can not think of a way that it could be practical, where just blowing up the super will be a much more effortless & painless affair.

Have you played EVE yourself? I really think you should at least play EVE a while before you come up with ideas to merge the two games.

You should know that once a normal ship (frigate to battleship) hits hull damage, it wouldn't take long for it to blow up. The matchmaking between EVE and DUST would have ot be out of this world for it to work. But even if that were still possible, it wouldn't be fair to the EVE player. EVE is more about planning out your skills and searching for the best fit. It's more about numbers really. When you lose your ship, it should be because you failed by EVE standards, not DUST ones.

DUST players are mercaneries. They get paid by giant corporations and rich capsuleers that fly around in EVE. Not all EVE players should be forced to use mercenaries. Let EVE players fight against each other, a bombardment from the sky or a cannon attacking ships would be nice. But entering is just too much.

My immediate reaction is that losing a ship outright to Dust players would be a pretty terrible thing. But, then, it is EVE. I don't know, maybe smaller ships (battleships) could be destroyed outright, but anything larger really ought to simply experience penalties of some kind. It would just be really frustrating to lose your ship to something you can't really defend against at all. Yeah yeah, adapt or die, blah blah. Still.

Otherwise though I really like the idea and I'm sure we've all been hoping this'd show up on the roadmap sometime. Boarding actions would be pretty awesome, intense fights.

Another consideration: How long does the average Dust game take, vs. the average EVE fight? What are the odds that a particular fight would still be going by the time your Dust boarders actually started doing damage to the ship you fired them into?

Hell to the no.

Time scales between the two different kinds of fights are too far apart. Fights can last a long time in fleet engagements but most often it's more like "hey I'm good, life is fine. . . . ZOMGWTFBBQ-snap-crackly-dead" for whoever dies.

I do support boarding of POSes and outposts. That kinds of structure grind is much more compatible with a DUST style match and would give the whole CQB fighting in a corridor feeling similar to a ship. It even makes sense in terms of gameplay and setting in both games.